Five Things Star Wars: Battlefront Needs to Avoid

If we learned anything from the last few generations of gaming, it’s that attaching a big license to a new game is barely worth the hot air it takes to announce it if the developers and publishers don’t know how to treat said license with respect, or how to squeeze every last ounce of fan-pleasing potential out of it.

It’s fair to say that EA and DICE know Star Wars pretty well. The former are mostly responsible for the semi-success of MMORPG The Old Republic, while the latter are famous for bringing us the previous Battlefront games. The worry is that neither experience is going to amount to much in the current market if the recently-revealed Battlefront threequel (which confusingly drops the numbered denomination) is to be a success. And I’m not talking about sales, here – we know it’s going to sell like Evian in the desert straight out of the gate. I’m talking continued, sustained success, measured by how many people are still playing three months on.

Its not a question of what they need to do, but rather of what they need to avoid. These are five things Star Wars: Battlefront needs to steer clear of.

1: Over-representing Episode 7

Don’t get me wrong, the impending release of The Force Awakens is exciting. Actually it’s not just exciting, it’s… thrilling, it’s… well, a word needs to be invented for how ridiculously hyped the fans are ever since Han Solo gave us that lop-sided smile and announced that he and his legendary Wookiee co-pilot were, indeed, home.

But for many fans, a new Star Wars movie is a worry. Lucas’ prequel trilogy destroyed our faith in the franchise’s big screen future. While we will almost certainly see elements of Episode 7 in Battlefront, from characters to locations and battles, they won’t be nearly as iconic as those established by the original hallowed trilogy, or even the hit and miss prequels. While the previous movies were featured heavily in the first two Battlefront games, we need that stuff in the new iteration. After all, this many years since the last and on a new generation, it may as well be a reboot. So reboot it right.

2. Hiding the most wanted stuff in a Season Pass

Titanfall‘s business model was nothing particularly new or shocking for EA: new IP launches amidst avalanche of hype, turns out to be content-light but promising stacks of additional maps and unlocks as DLC. What we got in the long-run turned out to be fairly underwhelming once the initial excitement had died down, but it’s indicative of the route EA will go with future online-only shooters.

And it’s a bad route. DLC is a necessary evil – most of us have accepted that – but while promising us extra maps and vehicle/weapon packs is fine, please, EA, don’t hide characters like Vader or, Force forbid, game modes behind a pay wall.

3. Being stingy with unlockable content

Which feeds into the next thing they need to avoid: giving us sod all to chase. To use Titanfall as an example again, the loadout and mode variety in Respawn’s wall-running mech shooter is still paltry, and was even more spartan at launch. I’m fine with Battlefront feeling bare-bones at the beginning, but I’d sooner DICE pack it with modes, characters, vehicles and weapons to unlock through play as opposed to riddling it with microtransactions and content “coming soon”.

The key to keeping people playing is giving them things to chase, XP levels, loot, unlockables, whatever. EA and DICE understand it in Battlefield, and they need to remember it in Battlefront if they want to maintain their player base.

4. Keeping us on the ground

Having already confirmed that Battlefront won’t feature space battles (boo!), DICE need to give us more than just ground battles. The trailer shows X-Wings, speeder bikes, AT-ATs assaulting Hoth. The worst thing they could do here is confine us to the ground. 40-player battles with X-Wings and Imperial Walkers would be about the coolest thing ever, but a mass team dogfight like the Battle of Yavin-4, complete with the trenches, would be mind-blowing.

Star Wars was never just about the pitched land battles, and DICE would do well to give is the airborne bombast we crave.

5. Not letting us do the cool stuff from the movies

If the engine doesn’t let me attach a grapple line to the underbelly of an AT-AT, climb up it and lob a grenade in, I’m out. I want to slice speeder bikes in half with a lightsabre and trip Walkers over with freshly cut timber. Star Wars’ set-pieces are uniformally awesome (well, except that one with the giant fish eating the other giant fish), and they need to be replicated and topped in Battlefront. If we’re just expected to shoot lots of stuff, I’ll be disappointed. We know DICE can implement vehicular combat and combine that with ground fighting to staggering effect, and the vehicles of Star Wars offer unprecedented potential for tactical teamwork. We want it all.

So there you go. We really aren’t asking the Earth, here, we just want EA to not be quite so… well, EA-ish with such a beloved IP. Is there anything you’re hoping they do or, more importantly, don’t do with Battlefront? Let us know!